Colonie OKs zone change, keeps sway

Residents, merchants sound off about move affecting 94 properties

Updated 7:10 am, Friday, August 10, 2012

COLONIE — The Town Board voted Thursday to reverse a rezoning of almost 100 business properties but kept a conservation overlay that gives the town a big say in how the land is developed.

The town reversed a 2007 decision that shifted zoning on 94 properties in the west end of town where many construction firms, contractors and other businesses are located. The land is located near the Pine Bush Preserve.

The board voted to rezone 690 acres from commercial office and residential to industrial. Another 95 acres was rezoned from residential to airport business area. But the town declined the business owners' request to lift a conservation development overlay zone that gives the town greater ability to determine how development is done.

For four years, business operators have tried to get the zoning reversed, saying it impeded selling to a similar but not identical business and limited their ability to expand. Some homeowners argued for the more restrictive zoning.

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"After 25 years in government, I have to consider their recommendation the right move because no one is entirely happy with it," said board member Brian Haak.

Supervisor Paula Mahan said keeping the conservation overlay gives the town discretion when proposals are made on the properties. The conservation restrictions require 40 percent of the land to remain undeveloped.

Suzanne Perry-Potts, a business and home owner in the area who led the fight to reverse the zoning, said it felt like having a stolen car returned by police, only to be told the thief must be allowed to use it on weekends.

"It's a partial victory," she said.

Perry-Potts has been pushing to reverse the zoning change since 2008, a year after it occurred. She and her husband, Alan, own Potts Construction and have five parcels totaling 25 acres in the zone.

Before the vote, Perry-Potts told the board that the area was the first industrial zone in the town because it had access to rail, the airport and highways.